The Perfect Pitch (Indianapolis Lightning Book 1)

by Samantha Lind

  “Love you, too, see you soon.”

  At that, we hang up, and I flip open the menu in front of me.

  “Your sister, I take it?” JJ says from across the table.

  “Yep. Something happened with her new job, and she’s not enjoying Ohio, so she’s going to move down here to be around family.”

  “I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to be in Ohio, either.” He grimaces.

  I laugh at his antics. “It can’t be that bad.”

  “I’ve not spent much time there, but what I have, it didn’t appeal to me much,” he says as our server approaches the table. She takes our drink and food order, then disappears. I look over and see Madison and her husband Richard sitting at a table across the room from us. She’s grown a bit since I last saw her, seeing as she’s expecting twins here sometime soon.

  “I’ll be right back,” I tell JJ as I stand up and walk over to their table.

  “Well, if it isn’t the party boy of baseball himself,” Madison greets me as I approach.

  “Not anymore. I’m putting those days behind me. I’ve got more important things to focus on,” I tell her as I shake Richard’s hand. She scoots over to make room for me and I slide in next to her. “How are things going for you?”

  “Ugh. I’m as huge as a house, can’t breathe half the time, and go from starving to I don’t have any more room in the matter of a couple bites of food. Other than that, I’m great.”

  “When are the babies due?”

  “March, but hopefully late February. I don’t think I can last much longer than that,” she says. “How are Jillian and the girls?”

  “Jillian and the girls are doing great. We went to Florida for vacation and it was just what we needed,” I tell her honestly. If there’s anyone who knows about my life that isn’t family, it is Madison. She’s been with me for a long-ass time and was one of the best agents in the business. “You sure you’re not willing to work part-time? I promise to not be a pain in your ass. I’m a changed man these days.”

  “I’m sure you are, but no. I’m going to enjoy not dealing with athletes for the next few years.”

  “Hey!” Richard pipes up from the other side of the table.

  “Hush you, I’ll always deal with you,” she tells her husband with a smile.

  “I’ll let you guys enjoy your lunch,” I say, standing from the table. “Good luck with the babies and all.”

  “Don’t be a stranger, and give my love to Jillian and the girls,” Madison tells me. “And, Derek?” I turn my attention back to her. “I’m proud of you. I knew you had it in you to turn things around. Those girls are worth it, I’m sure of it.”

  “I agree. I’m just the dumbass that had to almost lose everything before he realized just how good he had things.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up too much. We’re all human and make mistakes. It’s how we learn and change from those mistakes that shows our true colors.”

  I let her words sink in, waving as I head back to my table. JJ has almost polished off the basket of chips and salsa that was dropped off at our table shortly before I stepped away.

  “Save any for me?” I jokingly ask as I sit down.

  “Nope,” he says, popping the P. Our server arrives just then with a second basket of chips and salsa.

  “Your food should be up shortly,” she says.

  “Thanks,” I tell her as she walks away.

  We shoot the shit while we eat. JJ tells me about a few of his most recent one-night stands. The man has more notches in his bedpost than Hugh Hefner’s playboy mansion.

  “You ever going to settle down and get yourself a girl that lasts more than one night?” I ask him after we’ve paid the bill and head out to the parking lot.

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  “I could tell you, but you probably wouldn’t believe me. Don’t you get tired of having to learn what the women you sleep with want or how they respond to what you’re doing?”

  “Fuck no. They practically beg to take a ride on my cock. You’ve seen it firsthand. Why would I want to give that up?”

  “Because sometimes it’s more than just about the pussy.”

  “And you’d know that, how? If I’m not mistaken, you’ve been with the same pussy for what, eight years? Did you even sample any before Jillian?”

  “That’s beside the point. I don’t need any other pussy in my life. I’m quite fond of the one I’ve got,” I say, smirking at him.

  “Keep telling yourself that, man, and I’ll keep sampling it all.”

  “You’re such an asshole.”

  “You wouldn’t have me any other way,” he retorts as he opens his car door. “Give my love to Jillian and the girls. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “See ya then,” I tell him, then climb into my truck and head home.

  Twenty

  Jillian

  Since returning from Florida, things have been so chill and almost too perfect. I keep waiting for the shoe to drop, so to say. I hate that I’m constantly worrying about something happening to change the way things are going for us. Having Derek back in my bed every night and helping around here with mundane things, as well as with the girls so much, has me realizing just how much we were on two completely separate pages for a while.

  The last couple of weeks, we’ve fallen into a new routine. Once the girls are in bed, we sit and relax. We talk so much more than we used to, and not always about serious things, but the time together has made me fall back—or more—in love with Derek than I was before. I’ve never felt the kind of love for anyone that I do for him. He’s my other half. The peanut butter to my jelly, the mac to my cheese. My lobster and the only man I ever want to call my own.

  “Honey, I’m home,” Derek calls out from the garage door.

  “I’m in the kitchen,” I reply.

  “Hey, beautiful.” He comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my torso, and pulls me close. His head dips to my neck and his lips find the skin there. “I missed you,” he whispers against my skin, and I shiver at the contact.

  “How was lunch?” I ask as I finish rinsing off the pan I used to grill the girls their lunch.

  “Good, I ran into Madison and Richard. She said to tell you hi.”

  “How’d she look?”

  “Good. Big, but good. Said she’s ready for the babies to come.”

  “I bet.” I turn in his arms, then push up on my toes and press my lips against his, catching him by surprise for a second. He quickly melts into my kiss and takes control, and his hands slide up my body quickly until he’s cupping my cheeks.

  “Love you,” he says against my lips once we break the kiss.

  “Love you,” I reply before lowering back down to my normal height.

  “Where are the girls?”

  “Napping. Both were in need of one today, so much so that neither of them fought me on it.”

  “They must have been tired then,” he muses. “Oh, before I forget. Ry called me a little while ago. I guess something happened with her job. Since it didn’t pan out, she’s wanting to move and asked if she could come here. I, of course, told her yes, so she’s driving down this weekend. I told her she could stay here, or I was thinking that I could move all my stuff back in and we could just put her up in my condo.”

  “That sucks about her job, but she’s always welcome here. The girls will be ecstatic to see her.”

  “That’s what I told her. So…what do you think about the apartment?” he asks, obviously nervous about my response to his question. Since we returned from Florida, he hasn’t spent one night at the apartment, so it makes sense he just officially move back home. I don’t want him anywhere else, and he’s definitely proven himself to me.

  “I think that sounds like the perfect plan. She’d get tired of staying here after a few days anyways with the craziness of the girls. They’d quickly drive her nuts,” I tell him. “Or be the best birth control a girl could ask for.”

  He growls. “My baby
sister doesn’t need birth control. She’s not dating until she’s thirty, just like our girls.”

  “Oh, please.” I roll my eyes as I smack his chest. “Your sister is twenty-two years old. She can date, have S-E-X, even drink if she wants to, and there’s nothing you can do to stop her,” I say as he shudders. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to become an over-the-top brother who scares off any guys that try and date her.”

  “If they can’t answer my questions and pass my test, then they aren’t dating her.”

  “Okay then, Mr. Alpha male, overprotective brother. I’ll just have to be her kickass sister-in-law who helps her pick out the perfect man to date and drive you nuts with.” I cackle at the thought of making him crazy. “Ooh, maybe I can set her up with one of your teammates!”

  “Don’t you fucking dare.”

  “Hmmmm… JJ would be a good place to start. That man needs a woman in his life to bring him a little stability and to settle down.”

  “JJ isn’t fucking touching my sister with a goddamn twenty-foot pole, much less anything else,” he grits out.

  “Oh, come on, Derek,” I egg him on. “They’d look so cute together.”

  “Jillian.” He says my name in a demanding tone. “Don’t even go there. You know how he is.”

  “I’m sure he can be tamed.”

  “Not with my sister,” he says, then turns and stalks out of the room.

  Well, crap, I didn’t mean to piss him off.

  “I’m sorry about earlier today,” I tell Derek as I slip between the sheets. “I didn’t mean to make you upset about Ry and JJ. I was just trying to tease you.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry I got so defensive about the whole situation,” he says, pulling me into his arms. Tonight, was the first night since we’ve been back that we didn’t sit and talk after the girls went to bed. Derek disappeared after dinner into the home gym we have, only to appear just a little bit ago when I was getting ready for bed. “I’m sorry I didn’t help with bedtime tonight. I just needed to clear my mind.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t always have to help. I can handle things on my own, ya know. Not that I don’t appreciate the help.”

  “I know you can, but I’m trying to help out as much as I can before I’m gone all the time.”

  “Yeah.” I sigh as I melt into his embrace a little more. “Only a few more weeks until it’s back to the grind. Are you excited for the new season?” I ask, pressing a kiss to his chest.

  “Yes. I don’t think the excitement and anticipation will ever stop and if it does, then it will definitely be time to retire.”

  “I’ve never not known you to be like a kid in a candy store when it was the start of a new season, and I’m glad that you haven’t lost that passion for it.”

  “I sure hope I don’t,” he says, then falls quiet. “I was thinking about something while working out.”

  “What’s that?”

  “With Riley coming here, I’m sure it will take her a few weeks to get settled and find a new job. What if we asked her to watch the girls for a week or so, and you came out to Arizona with me for a little bit of training camp. You can go on hikes during the day, spend some time relaxing at the spa. Just enjoy a little break from being on all the time.”

  “Oh god, that sounds amazing and something we can talk to her about.”

  “I think she’d be up for it.”

  “Or, maybe we could bring her and the girls with, and we can just rent a house and stay for a little longer. It wouldn’t be as relaxing, but then it wouldn’t be so much on her at one time.”

  “That’d be an option, as well,” he says, dropping a kiss to the top of my head.

  Twenty-One

  Derek

  The past few days have been filled with morning workouts at the team facility with JJ, followed by afternoons with my girls, and then the nights with Jillian naked in bed. We’ve been a little wild and crazy, not able to get enough of each other. If I don’t knock her up again, I’ll be a little shocked. The thought of her having another baby, how curvy and luscious she gets when pregnant, turns me right the fuck on. I love how large her tits get, how they overfill my large hands. How, once she hits the second trimester, she’s usually so horny she attacks me whenever we have a few quiet moments together.

  “What’s that smirk for?” Her sweet voice breaks me from my daydream as she leans against the bathroom doorway.

  “Nothing.” I take her in as she stands there with a robe that’s open in the middle, showing off her exposed skin. She’s only put on a pair of panties. They might block my direct view of her perfect pussy, but I damn well know what it looks like, feels like, fucking tastes like. Dammit, I’m hard once again, and there’s no hiding it as my erection tents the sheet that’s draped over my legs.

  “Mhmmm,” she hums, then points at the tent of the sheets and my obvious erection. “Doesn’t look like nothing.”

  “Just thinking about knocking you up again.” I smirk at her and wait for her reaction.

  “Is that so?” she asks, no shock evident in her voice.

  “Mhmmm.” I hum right back at her. “You know I can’t keep my hands off of you when you’re knocked up.”

  She laughs. “Isn’t that the truth.”

  “So, get your ass over here and let’s practice at getting you pregnant.”

  “How are you ready to go again? Wasn’t the last two times enough practice,” she says, using air quotes, “for the morning?”

  “We can never have enough practice.” I stand from the bed in all my nakedness. My erection juts out, long and proud, as I close the distance between the two of us. It takes me a few strides since our master bedroom is so fucking big. I back her up against the wall, pinning her there with my hips, then gather both of her hands in one of mine and lift them above her head, holding them against the wall. My other hand trails down her exposed neck, across her collarbone, then dips down between her breasts. I push the robe out of my way, exposing her already hard nipples. I circle them with my fingertips, pinching lightly as I roll them between the pads of my fingers, then dip my head and flick them each with the tip of my tongue. Her breathing quickens as she starts to pant at my teasing.

  I take some pity and suck a nipple into my mouth, lavishing it hard. With each flick of my tongue, I notice her legs rub together as she attempts to find some friction. I drop her wrists and lower that hand to her panties. I grip the fabric and pull hard, tearing it from her body.

  “Derek!” She gasps at my assertiveness.

  “I’ll buy you new ones,” I state into her skin. “These ones were in my way.”

  “Such a caveman,” she replies on a moan as my fingers find her swollen clit. I flick it with my fingers as my tongue does the same to her nipples. I sink two fingers into her, her muscles fluttering around them as I do. I bring her right to the edge of her orgasm, then pull back, making her crazy as I do so. “Don’t be an asshole,” she chides as I look at her, the need to come written all over her face.

  “Never, sweetheart.” I lick her off my fingers, then stand to my full height, pull her leg over my hip, and align my cock with her wet and ready center. I push inside, not stopping until I’m balls deep.

  “Fuck!” She screams as I thrust fast, filling her over and over again. I slow only long enough to slip my hands under her ass and lift her up, wrapping her legs around my torso. I keep her pinned against the wall as I unleash inside her. My lips find hers, and I lose myself in her. Between the hold her mouth has on mine and the way my cock feels inside her at this angle, it doesn’t take long for me to reach climax. My orgasm sets off hers and we come together against the bathroom wall. Her head falls forward and rests on my shoulder.

  “That was…” she says, trailing off.

  “Fucking perfect,” I finish her sentence.

  “Yeah,” she agrees a moment later, once she’s caught her breath. “We can practice like that anytime you want.”

  “You liked that, did you?” I ch
uckle against her skin. I can feel my cock slipping from her, so I slide the rest of the way out and lower her back down to the floor.

  “Just a little bit,” she says, a coy smile on her lips.

  “Who wants to answer the door with Daddy?” I ask the girls, knowing Riley is at the door. We didn’t tell the girls she was coming, wanting to surprise them with her arrival.

  “Me!” Addison says, jumping up from the floor where we’d been playing together. I head for the door with both girls in tow. I swing it open and find my baby sister standing there, a huge smile plastered on her face.

  “RyRy!” Penelope calls out as soon as she sees my sister. Riley drops to her haunches and opens her arms wide for both of my girls to run into. They just about tackle her, causing her to almost lose her balance as she wraps her arms around both of them at the same time.

  “Auntie Ry is here!” she tells both girls as she attempts to stand with both of them still clinging to her neck.

  “Why don’t you both let Auntie Ry come inside,” I say, laughing at my girls’ antics.

  She adjusts both girls in her arms and walks inside. Neither one of them wanted anything to do with her putting them down, so she forged on.

  “How was the drive?” I ask once we’ve made it into the living room and the girls have allowed her to put them down.

  “Uneventful. I got on the road just after breakfast and here I am.”

  “Do you need some lunch?” Jillian asks, joining us in the living room.

  “Maybe in a little bit. I just want to relax for a couple of minutes with these two,” she says, getting down on the floor with the girls.

  “Did you want to stay here tonight or go get settled in at the apartment?” Jillian asks her.

  “Either is fine with me. I don’t want to intrude too much on you guys.”

  “Never. You’re always welcome here,” Jill replies, just as I knew she would.

  “Thanks. And if you ever need a sitter, I’m more than willing to help out. I can’t thank you guys enough for letting me come here.”